02165cam a22002537 4500001000600000003000500006005001700011008004100028100001800069245012700087260006600214490004100280500001800321520116600339530006101505538007201566538003601638700002301674700002301697710004201720830007601762856003701838856003601875w1729NBER20161209120136.0161209s1985 mau||||fs|||| 000 0 eng d1 aCorman, Hope.10aBirth Outcome Production Functions in the U.S.h[electronic resource] /cHope Corman, Theodore J. Joyce, Michael Grossman. aCambridge, Mass.bNational Bureau of Economic Researchc1985.1 aNBER working paper seriesvno. w1729 aOctober 1985.3 aThis paper contains the first infant health production functions that simultaneously consider the effects of a variety of inputs on race-specific neonatal mortality rates. These inputs include the use of prenatal care, neonatal intensive care, abortion, Federally subsidized organized family planning clinics, maternal and infant care projects, community health centers, and the WIC program. The empirical analysis is based on a cross section of U.S. counties in 1977, and the incidence of low birth weight (2,500 grams or less) is employed as an intermediate outcome. This allows us to examine the extent to which prenatal inputs operate directly on neonatal mortality and also allows us to examine their indirect effects on mortality rates through low birth weight. Since mothers with poor endowed birth outcomes will attempt to offset these unfavorable prospects by utilizing more health inputs, major emphasis is placed on two-stage least squares estimatesof the production function. Our results underscore the qualitative and quantitative importance of abortion, prenatal care, neonatal intensive care,and the WIC program in black and white birth outcomes. aHardcopy version available to institutional subscribers. aSystem requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files. aMode of access: World Wide Web.1 aJoyce, Theodore J.1 aGrossman, Michael.2 aNational Bureau of Economic Research. 0aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)vno. w1729.4 uhttp://www.nber.org/papers/w172941uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w1729